The Secrets of Swans
by Fountain of Ideas
Summary: Bella Swan has lived her who life in Phoenix, Arizona, with her mother Renée. But after Renée's father dies, they make a trip to the small town of Forks where both their lives will be changed forever.


PROLOGUE

_April 1993_

I walked out of the Sky Harbor Airport and was immediately swamped by the dry heat of Phoenix, Arizona. So different to the weather in Forks, the town of my childhood, but then again that was exactly what I had been hoping for.

_Ok Renée, this is it!_ I thought to myself as I took in a deep breath of the desert air. I looked around for a vacant cab, but unlike in all those hollywood films I had watched back home there was not one conveniently waiting for me. It took me over half an hour to finally hail one down, and by then I was practically drenched in sweat.

The cab driver helped me to put my bags into the boot, then I got in. I pulled out the little piece of paper I had written my new address down on out of my shorts pocket and told the cab driver the address.

As we whizzed through the city, I was too overwhelmed to take anything in. I started to regret my decision to leave Forks till I lay my hand on my newly rounded stomach, and all doubts left my mind. I wasn't going to let any child of mine grow up in the environment I had grown up in, I wouldn't let my father hurt it the way he had hurt me.

As thoughts of my father filled my mind, they morphed into thoughts of the guy who had gotten me pregnant. Charlie Swan. The boy whose image had haunted my dreams every night since I was 12. We had only been together for one night, but that had been the best night of my life. He was gentle and kind in his attitude towards people, and that night he hadn't been any different...

_It had been the party of the year, Billy's annual New Years blowout. Being a sophomore, I hadn't been invited, but I was desperate to go just to catch a glimpse of him. When I had entered the house, I saw Charlie in the living room arguing with his girlfriend, the beautiful Victoria Beaumont. It wasn't long till Victoria screamed at him that it was over between them. Charlie left through the back door, and I couldn't resist following him._

_When I had entered the back garden I found him sitting down the back in the shadows. I walked up to him slowly, kind of regretting my choice till he started to speak to me. I sat down next to him and listened to his problems, right up to the point where it got so cold our bums were practically frozen to the ground. _

_After that he offered to drive me home. When we arrived out the front of my house, my dad wasn't there. I didn't want our time together to end yet, and neither did he, so I invited him in..._

My skin began to heat and tingle as it always did when I remembered the events of that night. He had been gentle and sweet to me, causing me to cry when it was over. We began to hang out a bit after that, getting to know each other, and I fell in love with him. Then I found out I was pregnant, and I knew that it would ruin his dreams of college and a great career as a lawyer if I told him.

So instead I looked up the best place for a single mother of 16 to raise her child, and found a little inn that was willing to take me on, baby and all, in Phoenix Arizona. So here I was, in a taxi in the middle of April, dying in the heat as my taxi driver yelled at other drivers on the road in a language I didn't know.

There was only one person I regretted not telling about my pregnancy, and that had been my best friend Esme. She was about ten years older than me, and had been my babysitter for years before we became really close. But if I had told her she would have insisted I move in with her and her husband, and I didn't want to be a burden to them, what with them having a little boy already.

I heaved a sigh, knowing that not telling anyone that I was pregnant or where I was had been the best option for everyone involved. The Phoenix streets passed by in a blur until we reached a quaint 3 story brick building.

I paid the taxi driver, then after he had gotten my bags out of the boot I walked up towards the front door of my new home, The Deserted Inn. I opened it, and was immediately greeted by a plump woman in her late fifties with salt and pepper hair and intelligent blue eyes.

'Hello there! I'm Kathy Liman, the owner of the inn. You must be our new maid Renée Swan.'

'Yes.' I said 'Yes I am.'


End file.
